Dodo cops $26,400 fines for unlimited ADSL2+ ads

By Ry Crozier on Jan 6, 2011 11:26 AM
Filed under Telco/ISP

Component prices targeted.

ISP Dodo has been forced to shell out $26,400 after being pinged by the competition watchdog over advertisements for its unlimited ADSL2+ broadband services.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it issued four infringement notices to Dodo over advertisements it believed were misleading.

The ACCC claimed the advertisements did not make it clear that a $39.90 a month unlimited broadband plan could only be purchased in a bundle with a telephone line that cost an extra $29.90 a month.

The regulator issued four infringement notices for $6,600 – one for each type of media the advertisements ran on.

Acting ACCC chairman Michael Schaper issued a warning to other ISPs against using the same price tactics.

"Traders risk breaching the Act if they selectively quote monthly component prices as the headlines in advertising campaigns without appropriately disclosing the actual total monthly cost to a consumer," Schaper said.

"To prominently advertise the price of only one component and bury the total bundled price in the fine print is misleading."

The ACCC gained the power to issue infringement notices up to $6,600 for corporations in April last year.

Dodo cops $26,400 fines for unlimited ADSL2+ ads

2 comments in this discussion

"@gbyrneg50, sadly, you are probably right about the many more dishonest ads. But it may be a bit much to expect non-tech, non-lawyer customers to know that something prominently advertised as "a ..."

By anonymous

Tags

dodo, isp, unlimited, adsl2, fine, advertisement, component, price, accc

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Comments: 2

gbyrneg50 Jan 6, 2011 4:59 PM	The subscriber (or would be) would become aware of this fact before signing up surely. The advertisement would grab his attention surely but it's not as if he would be forced to take out a telephone account after he completed his sign up. I think that there are many more dishonest advertisements than this.
anonymous Jan 6, 2011 6:14 PM	@gbyrneg50, sadly, you are probably right about the many more dishonest ads. But it may be a bit much to expect non-tech, non-lawyer customers to know that something prominently advertised as "a $39.90 unlimited plan" was apparently not that at all.